17 October 2007

Manny Ramirez has long been an anomaly in the baseball world, and the phrase “Manny being Manny” has long explained Red Sox Nation’s write-off towards his often laissez-faire attitudes. But after all these years, Manny may have finally, finally worn out his welcome. Down three games to one in the ALCS, Ramirez said the following:

"Why should we panic?" he said Wednesday in a rare clubhouse interview. "We've got a great team."

And then, this: "It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."

Manny just doesn’t get it. And he doesn’t understand his customers - those New Englanders who live and die by every Red Sox pitch. Who care so badly. Clearly Manny doesn’t. His shtick is fun and great, but if he really doesn’t care, that’s a problem. It seems as though it’s a yearly ritual to find Ramirez on the trading block each winter, and perhaps it’s time to finally make that deal. He may have effectively ended his Red Sox career.